Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 385- Theo


Doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. As far as first thoughts after a near death experience go, it wasn't that bad. Certainly better than what followed. Where's my shirt? I looked around, noting that my head was resting on Missy's lap while Clarice was next to me on one side, and Amelia was on the other. Huh, never really noticed before, but Amelia's kinda cute from this angle. Oh my god she looks like Kayden. What the fuck's wrong with me?


Distracted by that line of thinking, maybe I could be forgiven for the first words. I looked over at Clarice and smiled. "Guess you were right about not taking anyone up with me."


Missy and Clarice hugged me. They were wearing the generic overlayer that Amelia tended to make for emergency clothing. Oh, right, they were brought up by Zach. Of course they would need a change of clothes.


The sun was just starting to rise, but that meant very little since I had no idea where we crashed or where we set up camp. Given Missy's power it could literally be anywhere on the planet. "So, umm, how long was I out?"


"Around fifteen hours," Missy answered. "You're lucky you made it at all."


I looked over at Amelia, in her armor. "I take it the mission was successful?"


"More or less," Taylor's voice came through my armor. "There's no resistance right now, but I'm sure several of the Yangban are hiding among the civilians, and I can't be sure which are which. It would be a lot easier if I thought to get Chinese into my brain upload."


Amelia sighed. "And we were expecting to only capture a handful of Yangban, maybe some technicians and other skilled labor. People we could either use as a resource or trade back to China for some kind of concession. Instead we're looking at thousands of people, most of them farmers and other laborers. Honestly it's going to take forever to sort through it."


"One hundred and twelve thousand, three hundred and seventy one people in total. Yangban make up around fifty of that. Not including the dead."


I started to sit up, and the girls moved to the sides and gave me a bit of a push on my shoulders, making it easier on me. I didn't need the help, but I appreciated it all the same. Putting the top layer of my armor back on, I read the display highlights. Which consisted of a lot of minor damage throughout the entire suit. "But it's still a win, everyone's okay?"


Zach shrugged. "Well, it's not a loss, but a few million dollars in equipment destroyed and we have Taylor and Vicky sharing space inside Amelia's backpack. So I'mma vote that we've seen more decisive victories."


"Hey, I got maimed by the best!" Victoria insisted. "Turns out I was fighting the guy who managed to kick Lung's ass. And I totally winning that fight until hundreds of Yangban showed up to save him. You guys couldn't have kept that barricade device going for five more minutes? By the way, what are the odds we can keep that guy around for a while. I so deserve a rematch."


Dragon's voice spoke over the coms next. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. Feng Hao did not survive Atropos' attack on the palace. I have made contact with Pakistan's President and informed him of the situation, as well as the United Nations Security Council. Both would like to speak with Gaea and Khepri immediately. I've delayed the UN meeting by requesting they organize the full UN for a proper explanation."


"Understood." Taylor's voice was mechanical, tired. "I have been unable to find the Pakistani colonists. Could you investigate where they might have been taken? Contact China and let them know we're willing to negotiate a transfer of... fuck it, my political bullshit doublethink tolerance is at an all time low right now. Whatever bullshit excuse you need to draw up that lets us trade our captives for the Khyber colonists is fine. Throw China a bone that they don't have to admit they're responsible to sweeten the deal."


"We're just going to let them get away with this!" Vicky exclaimed. "The fuck?!"


Lily sighed. "Black ops mission, we always knew it wasn't going to be a killing blow. But I don't think this can be called them 'getting away' with anything. We've taken their stolen world, and with it all kinds of Tinkertech stuff that probably costs like a billion dollars. Moving over a hundred thousand of their own people like this had be be costly, too. And we killed over half their parahumans, including at least one of which that was Triumvirate tier. And captured a bunch of others. We made them bleed pretty hard today and all of us walked away alive.


"Dammit. I guess you're right. But I'm going on record to say that if they continue being assholes, we take the kid gloves off, shunt right into the palace, and literally shove their heads up their own asses."


"Noted." Taylor responded. "We have some diplomacy shit to take care of. Horus, Osiris, the two of you should be in good condition. You're assigned to sorting our prisoners and doing what medical assistance you need to. Sveta and Boost are on site already along with some of the Dragon's Teeth, so I don't imagine we'll have any short term problems. Everyone else, go home and get some sleep. No excuses, we'll need all of you later."


Amelia spoke up as I started to get to my feet. "Oh, and before I forget. Akaihana was asking about a suit for her to use. Lily, you know her better than I do. Is she trustworthy enough to give a customized set of armor to? We probably need to find some way to thank her after you dropped that guy in her lap like that, one way or another."


"Uh. Umm. I don't know her that well. Well, not really. But we gave Chevalier a suit, and none of us really knew him at the time. So by that standard I don't see why not. And it couldn't hurt to show the Japanese capes that we're willing to help them like we do over in America."


Taylor's voice came over the com. "We have some time before worrying about it anyway. We can probably fish the suits out of the ocean eventually, but they'll need repairs and maybe a few adaptations. Lily, be sure to let Akaihana know we're grateful for her help. Even let her know some of the vague details that we're eventually going to release to the public if she asks. But make sure you get some sleep first."


"Uh, sure, I can do that. Bed first, Akaihana tomorrow." Lily vanished, using her shunt drive.


Huh, why's she acting so weird? No one else seemed to notice, but almost everyone else could barely hold a conversation. Maybe this is just how she gets when she's tired? I stood up, using a bit of the antigrav to lift Missy and Clarice to their feet without any real problems. "Are the two of you okay?"


Missy went to speak, then yawned. Cute. Clarice had a bit more control. "Worn out, that's all. Staying awake twenty plus hours, overtaxing our powers, nothing a good night's sleep won't take care of." It was her turn to yawn. And then mine. They really are contagious. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."


I smiled and kissed Clarice in the forehead, then a quick peck on the lips for Missy. "Well, off to bed with you both. I'll see you tomorrow."


"Yeah, Janus is probably already waiting on the other side." Missy agreed. I let them go so they could shunt without accidentally dragging me along.


I looked over at Zach. "So just us guys, huh?"


"Looks like it." There wasn't the usual joking attitude in his voice, not even the attempt at faking it.


"What the fuck happened while I was out?"


"Let's talk on the flight." He lifted off the ground and I followed. Whatever damage happened to my armor didn't seem to be slowing it down any, something I'd have to ask Clarice about later. We went higher than I expected. "This is a major league fuckup. Vicky's acting like it's not a big deal but... Theo. Promise you won't tell anyone about this. It has to stay between us. Even though everyone else here already knows, don't talk to them about either."


If Taylor and everyone already know, then they'll be able to deal with it more than I could. I nodded, and then felt stupid for doing so. He couldn't see me from this angle. "Yeah, I can keep quiet if it's that big a deal."


Zach took a deep breath. "When Vicky was fighting the Yangban. She's acting like she was actually fighting the whole time and it wasn't anything but that. They held her for at least two hours before she was rescued. If they wanted to kill her, she'd be dead right now."


Fuck. She could have fooled me with the way she was acting.


"She... I don't think she fooled any of us. I'm sure Lily and Clarice saw enough of it to actually know what happened or deduce it through powers. The rest of us had to read between the lines, but we're not stupid. They tortured her. Maybe they had some kind of power that forced her into normal state, or maybe they had powers strong enough not to care, but they tortured her from whenever they caught her to when Lily showed up and started killing them."


Oh fuck. I took a slow breath. If Clarice figured out what happened, and of course with her powers and history it would take her all of an eyeblink to do so, then there was no way she'd let this slide. I'd seen it a couple times, when she slipped back into the mentality of Bonesaw. When her friends and family were threatened or hurt. Victoria was something like a surrogate aunt to her. "How... did Clarice take this?"


"Oh, right, forgot to mention Lily and Vicky brought back a prisoner."


Oh fuck. Just when things were starting to get stable. Just when she was starting to get better. Fuck.


"Yeah, exactly. Some impromptu brain surgery using Lily's power and pine needles. Taylor approved, no objections from the peanut gallery. I guess it was necessary. Had to use his shunt drive to get a message back over to the team and maybe Dragon could follow it up by reverse engineering their shunt tech or whatever. The plan worked and the asshole deserved everything they did to him and worse, so I can't say it was wrong. But, well..."


"But I needed to know." This is going to be a big thing with Clarice, and probably Missy. I'll have to talk to them soon.


"Yeah, that."


"Thanks for the heads up."


"We're bros, right? Is how we do."


"No, seriously. It's good to know you were there to look out for them when I couldn't be. Anything you need, just let me know."


"Hey, how about you don't kill me for seeing them both naked, and we'll call it even?"


==============


A/N- Some things no one noticed from the prior chapters (so disappointed by the way). Some other things snuck in to see if you'll notice.